I had some time to check on the hives again today and unfortunately found two of the three were queenless. This is the second time this season I have lost the queens and I can’t figure out why other than just bad luck. One hive is looking great, but since it was one that was queenless earlier this summer, the hive hasn’t had the time to store enough honey for harvesting this year. So sadly, we won’t be spending a future weekend with our harvesting gear in the kitchen (Natalie is probably secretly thrilled about this).

I closed up the hives, started to feed them some sugar water for the fall, and will have to get them ready for winter in the next couple of months. It’s so hard to winterize the hives with our cold weather and the loss is usually 75% or greater, but it’s worth a try.

Getting my gear ready before opening up the hives
Clearly, the queen is gone. Just kidding I can’t tell either. Have to look at the comb for evidence of a queen unless she’s spotted.
The only hive that is truly doing well
Just a quick movie of what it’s like….